Yesterday, as expected, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford became the first governor to reject some of his state’s share of stimulus funds, spurning $700 million (of the about $8 billion headed his way) that he said would harm his state’s residents in the long run. South Carolina’s General Assembly (controlled by Republicans who have long opposed Sanford’s attempts to cut spending, lower taxes, and generally reform government operations), using a provision of the stimulus bill inserted by Rep. James Clyburn (D‑SC), nevertheless plans to seek the funds without the governor’s support. They cite section 1607 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which provides that, notwithstanding a requirement for gubernatorial certification of a request for funds:
If funds provided to any State in any division of this Act are not accepted for use by the Governor, then acceptance by the State legislature, by means of the adoption of a concurrent resolution, shall be sufficient to provide funding to such State.
The question arises, setting aside the relative merits of both sides’ positions, whether the governor (or someone else) could challenge this “alternative certification” provision on constitutional grounds. Here are some initial thoughts: